Beverage containers equipped with easy opening "pop-tops" have been available for many years. A more recent development in the container art is the familiar easy opening container havng a scored panel that opens and folds into the container in response to the lifting of a tab that remains attached to the opened container. This later type of easy opening container was developed primarily in response to problems associated with the original pop-top that separted from its container, contributd to unsightly litter and tended to have sharp edges representing a danger to the public.
Although the more recent "non-detachable" tabs are an improvement over the original "pop-top", they have proven to be replete with problems of their own. After having been used to open a container, the tabs serve no further pupose and, in many cases, are a frustrating obstruction to a consumer attempting to drink the beverage from the container. Further, the tabs are easily removed from the container by simply wiggling them until they become separated from the container. Such removal of the tabs raises new concerns within the beverage industry and among environmentalists. In addition, removal of these tabs often leaves a sharp protrusion on the container and on the tab which can be dangerous to the consumer and to the public.
A further problem associated with currently manufactured easy opening containers is a frustrating tendency for the tab to break off without opening the container. In addition, the increasing complexity of the mechanism results in a very high cost of manufacture.
A phenomenon known as "blow-out" has also been known to occur in which pressure within the container causes the scored panel to become detached and propelled from the container injuring a consumer.
Attempts have been made to provide easy opening containers that overcome the problems of the currently used designs. The prior art includes the following listed U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,807,597, 3,860,143, 3,977,561, 4,039,100, 4,148,409.
The devices disclosed in these patents show other attempts to solve some of the above-mentioned problems.
Thus, a need exists for an easy opening container having an opening mechanism that overcomes the problems associated with the prior art devices. It is to the provision of such a container that the present invention is primarily directed.